Get ready, Big 12 sports fans, for Kansas State vs. Utah and the University of Kansas vs. Arizona. The new Big 12 is coming in next year.
In the aftermath of the PAC-12 crumbling — and losing four of its teams to the Big 12 — you might wonder why the schools migrated toward our conference, centered on the plains.
How did the PAC-12 lose the two most prestigious teams in their conference to the Big 10? Announced last year, the departure of the University of Southern California and the University of California Los Angeles signaled the leverage that the football-fueled Big 10 had over the PAC-12.
How could PAC-12 conference leadership have delayed signing a media deal that would have reassured other schools who were likely to flee? Simply securing a firm television contract may have slowed (if not secured) the nervous schools.
How could the conference have allowed the University of Colorado to return to the Big 12? How could they have essentially surrendered an entire geographic quadrant of their region, losing Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and the University of Utah?
The answer: Athletic conference commissioners should have studied the brutal economics of youth sports.
I am not talking about college-sponsored athletics or even high school sports.
These big-time league commissioners should have known the stuff that every parent in competitive youth sports knows.
Because my son has played competitive soccer for the last few years, I have seen these economics first hand. I also chat with other parents: baseball dads, basketball moms, softball parents. Their stories of youth sport echo one another and provide lessons, even for college sports commissioners.
In many ways, holding together a college sports conference is like holding together a team of young athletes. Most teams and conferences contain the same number of participants, whether it’s a dozen boys in shin guards or a dozen institutions of higher education.
So, where did the PAC-12 go wrong in gifting the Big 12 four more teams this summer? And what should the Big 12 be nervous about as conference realignment keeps rolling?
‘Follow the leader’
Alarm bells sound on a youth sports team anytime the best player leaves. The standout point guard might leave for a team that offers bigger showcase tournaments or nicer uniforms. The starting pitcher might be lured away by a former professional Major Leaguer as a coach.
The motivations of these stud players for leaving are important, especially for the players and families left behind. The remaining families are likely to stay put with the same team if they see the star player’s exit as being for a more elite opportunity, rather than fleeing an incompetent team.
When USC and UCLA left the Pac-12, you could see their departure as a step up to prestige rather than an escape from disaster. After all, they were joining one of the top two football conferences with a TV deal far more lucrative than their PAC-12 deal.
But losing a key team member — or two — also can reveal a crisis.
